Author: Femke

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”– Winston Churchill The Netherlands is a rather wet country, so swimming class is a good idea. I’m very relaxed towards swimming class. I managed to get my A-level when I was nine, my B-level when I was ten. Not because of a lack of swimming classes, those were mandatory at school starting age six, no, I hated that teacher with a hook, developed a fear of water and only when we switched swimming pools and I restarted swimming class did I calm down...

“Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Forward! I hop on my bicycle, set the electrical engine to four and hit the bicycle path. Add in a little music (Thunderstruck by ACDC) and soon I’m almost flying over the asphalt on the rhythm of drums, guitar and traffic. Oft I have to stop in front of a traffic light, especially when commuting. As the Netherlands is filled with cyclists I slip by them left and right, hitting a bit of pavement here and there....

“There are two things a child should be given by its parents: roots and wings.” – Goethe I had thought to start my first column on a strong note. Something about over-excitability, intensity or perhaps another distinctive subject. Something clear, with good examples, you know, something that really gets your imagination going. Well, no. Nothing came. No creative flow, nothing at all. Perfectionism, writer’s block, none of these were the issues. I was mostly just afraid to show myself. For years on end I hid myself, refused to step into the light any more than I had to, but...

Who are the Leonardo da Vinci’s and Albert Einsteins of the present day? Sometimes it’s fun to imagine what children will learn in school hundred years from now. Are you curious who the thirty smartest people in the world are? Read the...